System for making ice cream



H. 2;: ADAS 29 M SYSTEM FOR MAKING ICE CREAM Original Filed Feb. 4) 1936 INVENTOR Haf/yfl.Ac&zm BY ATTORNEYS A Patented Apr. 22:3941

SYSTEM FOR MAKING ICE CREAM Harry B. Adams, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Cherry- Burrell Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation Original application February 4, 1936, Serial No. 62,271. Divided and this application July 19, 1938, Serial No. 219,953

3 Claims. (Cl. 10'7-4) The present application relates to a system for ent results. For instance, if it is desired to form producing ice cream containing solid edibles, and multi flavor ice cream bricks, or fill cartons with is a division of my copending application Serial layers of different flavors, the ice cream mix No. 62,271, filed February 4, 1936, which,.on Sepfrom some or all of the freezers can be by-passed tember 13, 1938, matured into United States Let- :5 by means of suitable valves around the edible ters Patent No. 2,130,113. solid injector and the mixing unit, and the re- In a system of'this general type, utilizing a spectlve streams of different flavors extruded single continuous freezer of relatively large cathrougha nozzle in overlapped unmixed relationpacity for making semi-frozen plastic ice cream, ship. and a device connected in the delivery conduit of i0 Various other objects, features and advantages said freezer for injecting edible sol-ids into the of the invention will be apparent from the followice cream delivered from this freezer, the diming particular, description, and from an inspecculty arises, that any variation in the constitution of the accompanying drawing, in which: entsor hardness of this ice cream or the dis- Figs. 1, 2 and. 3.are somewhat diagrammatic tribution'of the edible solids is carried to the top plan views, showing variousarrangements in ultimate product delivered from said system. accordance with the present invention, for utiliz- Fln-thermore, since the efliciency of the freezer ing a battery of freezers in conjunction with a depends to a certain extent on the capacity at single or a plurality of injecting devices and a which it is run, the operation oi the freezer at a single mixing apparatus. low capacity causes a material reduction in its 0 Fig. 4 is a transversesection on a somewhat emclency. A so, when it is desired to clean or re larger scale taken on line 4-4 oi'Fig. 1, and shows pair the freezer, the entire system has to be shut one type of continuous pressure freezer that can down be utilized in conjunction with a system embody- One object of the present invention is to proing the present invention. vide a continuous system for producing ice cream 5 is horizontal Section o a S e containing solid edibles, in which the disadvanlarger scale, taken through one of the injecting tages above referred to are eliminated. devices, and shows one form of such device, which In carrying out certain aspects of the present may be utilized in conjunction with a system eminvention, I provide a battery of continuous presbodying the present invention. sure freezers connected in parallel, an edible solid Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of a hopper, which injector at the outlet of at least one of said may be used as a part of the injecting device, anirrs, and a device for mixing the solid edibles other portion of which is Shown in Fig. 5, and with the semi-frozen plastic ice cream delivered Fig, is a Se io ken on line 5-? of Fig. from all of said freezers. By means of this 0011- but on a somewhat larger scale, and shows a form structlon, any variation in the constituents or of minin will; that y be used in c ju c ion hardness of the mix from the diilerent freezers with a syste embodying the p esent inventionwill be averaged out in the mixing apparatus, so In 1 s s wn a arrangement. in W that a uniformv combined product is obtained. an iruectlng apparatus i utilized t inlect edible Furthermore, such a system lends itself to easy 8011(18 such as nuts and fruit into a Stream Of p fiexible control within a wide'range, without subtic ice cream delivered from a Si t u u stantial impairment in the etiiciency of the freez-' pressure freezer, and the resultant mixture is ers, For instance, when it is deslredto run the blended and intermixed with the output of one system at low capacity, one or more of the freezor more other freezers; In this arrangement,

ers can be shut down, while the other freezers can there is provided a battery of continuous pressure be operated at substantially full capacity, therefreezers connectedin parallel, three of such freon by assuring efiicient operation of these latter ers, F F and F being shown. One of said freezfreezers. Also. this system permits any one of ers, as for instance the freezer F is connected the freezers to be shut down for cleaning or reto the inlet i005 the injecting apparatus I. The pair purposes without shutting down the whole n outlet ll of this injecting apparatus I, and the system. Furthermore, the combined product is outlets of the other two freezers F and F are extruded from the system by the combined pres connected in parallel to a pipe 82 from which sure built up by all of the freezers, the injector, leads the delivery pipe 53 to the inlet ill of a mixand the mining or blending unit. ing apparatus M. The outlet lb of this mixing The system of the present invention can be apparatus leads to a suitable delivery device it, operated in different manners to produce difienwhich may be used for filling cans, cartons, tubes,

wrappers or the like, or for forming extruded bars, rods or bricks.

In Fig. 2 is shown an arrangement, in which each freezer is associated-with a corresponding injecting apparatus, and in which the outputs of two or more of such combinations are intermixed in a single mixing apparatus. In this arrangement, the outlets cfthe freezers F F and F are shown connected respectively to the inlet sides ill of three injecting apparatus I F and I respectively, the outlets ii of which are connected in parallel to the pipe 52. This pipe I2 has a. take-E pipe i3 leading to the mixing apparatus M, and the outlet id of said apparatus leads towards the filling apparatus 56, as already disclosed with reference to the arrangement of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3 is shown an arrangement in which the outputs of a battery of freezers are merged into a single stream, which is then directed through an injecting apparatus and a. mixing apparatus. In this term, the outlets oftiie freezers F F and F are connected directly in parallel to the pipe E2, to which is connected a take-oil 11 leading to the inlet side III of the injecting apparatus I, the outlet side ll being connected to the mixing apparatus M through a pipe II. The outlet of this mixing apparatus is connected to the filling apparatus IS.

The specific type of freezer per se forms no part of the. present invention, and may be of the continuous pressure type disclosed in the Patents Nos. 1,783,864, 1,847,149 and 1,962,386. A crosssection through such a freezer is shown in Fig, 4, as illustrated. It includes a tubular member 2|, serving as a freezing chamber for the mix to be aerated and frozen, and having a rotatable agitator 2|, carrying blades 22 for scraping engagement with the inner periphery of said chamher. The refrigerant is delivered through an inlet 26 to an annular refrigerant chamber 23 em circling the chamber 20. Around the chamber 23 is an outer chamber 24 separated from said chamber 23 by a wall 25 having a. port 21 at the top. The outer passageway 24 has an outlet 28 which may encircle the inlet 26. The refrigerant, in returning through the outer chamber 24, prevents the refrigerant in the inner chamber from absorbing heat from the outside atmosphere. The outer chamber 24 is encircled by insulation, not shown. These details form no portion of my invention.

The injecting apparatus I per se forms no part of the present invention, and may be of the general type disclosed and claimed in my copending application above referred to. Merely as an example, this injecting apparatus may include a hopper or supply receptacle 35 for the solids, such as nuts or fruits or particles thereof, disposed directly above the injecting mechanism, and provided with a segmental discharge opening 36 in its bottom wall 3! through which the solids are permitted to gravitate to said injector mechanism below.

The injector mechanism comprises a rotor 38, having a close rotary fit in a. stationary housing closed at its upper end by the bottom hopper wall Ztl'. extending coaxially with the hopper 35, and driven from a. suitable motor (not shown).

The rotor houis provided with an elongated curved following a portion of the periphery oi t and closed at the top by the hopper wall This recess it, which serves as a passageway the ice cream deliver-ed from the freezers, and whim extends This rotor 33 is driven by a shaft ll around approximately one-half the periphery oi the rotor 38, is provided with the inlet H) at one end, and the outlet II at the other end, both tangential to the rotor. The semi-frozen plastic material such as ice cream, is directed under pressure from the freezer or freezers into the i n let l9, through the recess or passageway 4'2 out through the outlet ii.

In order to transfer successive predetermined charges of solids from the hopper 35 to the passageway 42, the rotor 38 is provided at its upper surface with a diametrically extending channel 52, in which is slidably mounted a plunger E l, shorter than the diameter of the rotor, so as to form a pocket 45 first at one end and then at the other during reciprocation. For reciprocating this plunger 44, the wall member 37 is provided on its underside with a stationary cam 41, extending into a channel #8 provided in the central upper side of said plunger 41. This cam 41 is in the form of a circular disc, so positioned ec= centrically of the rotor 28, that when a pocket 5 reaches the outlet end of the passageway 22, the plunger will have reached the end of its stroke, and the metered contents of said pocket will have been entirely ejected into said DESSagvway. Th shuttle movement of the plunger H is permitted by a longitudinal slot into which extends the shaft 4|.

In the operation of the injecting mechanism, as the rotor 22 is rotated in a. counter-clockwlse direction, as shown in F18. 3, the pocket 45 which has just completed a discharging phase, approaches the discharge opening 36 of the hopper 35, while the other pocket 45 with a. charge of solids therein, moves along the passageway l2. During this movement, the plunger 44 is receding from one pocket is and moving radially outwardly in the other pocket to progressively discharge its contents into the passageway 42 along the length of the latter. As the empty pocket 45 moves beneath the hopper discharge opening 6. a portion of the solids is dropped from the hopper 35 into said Docket.

The rotor 38 is desirably operated at a peripheral speed which is difierent from the speed of flow of the ice cream in the passageway 42, so that the solids are distributed lengthwise of the moving stream.

In order to efiect a better distribution of the solids elected in the plastic material in the possageway 12, the bottom 31 oi. the hopper has a series of dispersion fins 52 extending into said passageway.

In order to regulate the amount oi edible solids introduced into the pockets as they move beneath the hopper discharge opening 36, there is providecl a valve plate 52 adjustable endwise across the bottom of said opening by means oi an adjusting screw 55. v

The agitating or blending apparatus M shown in Fig. 7, does not per se form any part of present invention, and as far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, may be of any suitable type. In thespecific form shown, this mixing apparatus M comprises a cylindrical casing or chamber having a series of pins or fingers 8i projecting inwardly from the wall thereof, and co-operating with a series of pins or fingers extending transversely from a rotatable agitating shalt 63. This shaft may be rotated from the rotor shaft ii of the injecting apparatus I through a sprocket and charm drive 55.,

The ice cream with the solids incorporated therein flows the chamber t0 through inlet H, and upwardly through the chamber outlet it. During this upward flowythe ice cream and the solids are thoroughly intermixed, so that said solids are unitormly distributed throughout the mass or ice cream. The thoroughly mixed ice cream and the solids are then discharged from the outlet l5, and may be delivered into receiving cans, containers, cartons, wrappers or the like. A can filler it which may be used is disclosed in the Vogt and Wymond Patent No. 1,- 881,106, issued August 4, 1932.

In all of the arrangements shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the partially frozen ice cream from the I various freezers, with the solid edibles incorporated therein, are thoroughly intermixed in the mixing or blending apparatus M, so that the combined product will average out any variations in the constituents or hardness of the ice cream coming from the individual freezers, or irregul delivery of solids by the injector Although no valves are shown in any of the arrangements oi Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it must be understood that in actual practice such valves are present in the piping system, so that any one of the freezers'may be cut out of the system for cleaning or repair purposes without the necessity of shutting down the entire system. Furthermore, it must be understood, that in any one of ultimate combined product. This construction besides the advantages previously referred to,

avoids the necessity of having an injector built of a size comparable to the capacity of the different sizes of freezers, and at the same time secures uniform distribution oi the solid edibles in the final product.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2, the various injectors may be used for diflerent solid edibles. For instance, injector I may be used for one type of nuts, injector I may be used for another type of nuts, and injector I? may be used for fruits. This construction, besides the ad- The construction of Fig. 3, besides the advantages previously referred to, has the advantage of injecting the solid edibles into the combined stream of the various freezers, so that less agita- 5 tion is necessary in the mixing apparatus M to eflect uniform distribution of these edibles throughout the entire mass of ice cream.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A continuous system for producing, blending and delivering ice cream containing solid edibles, including a plurality of continuous freezers connected in parallel for making semi-frozen plastic ice cream, a device at the outlet of only one of said freezers for injecting solid edibles into the stream of ice cream delivered from said latter freezer, a mixing apparatus, and piping for merging the material delivered from said injecting device and the ice cream delivered from the other freezers and delivering the merged product into said mixing chamber.

2. A system for producing ice cream containing edible solids therein, including a pair of continuous pressure freezers for making semi-frozen plastic ice cream, a device connected-to the outlet of one of said ireezers for injecting solid edibles into a stream of semi-frozen plastic ice cream delivered from said latter freezer, an apvparatus for agitating and mixing the solid edibles and semi-frozen plastic ice cream to effect a uniform mixture of said materials, and piping for merging the material delivered under pressure from said injecting device andfrom the other freezers and delivering the merged product under pressure into said mixing apparatus.

3. A battery process for continuously producing fruit-laden ice cream to formfa substantially uniformly hard, fruit-laden ice cream product which comprises the steps of continuously freezing ice cream to a semi-solid form in a plurality of' continuous, super-atmospheric pressure ice cream freezers, injecting solid, edible fruit under super-atmospheric pressure into the semi-frozen 5 ice cream produced by one of said freezers, combining the ice cream into which said fruit has been injected with the ice cream produced by the remainder of said freezers, and forcing the combined ice cream and fruit product from all of said freezers through a blender to produce an ice cream product'having uniform hardness and uniformly distributed solid, edible fruit products therein, said ice cream being forced from said freezers to and through said blender by .the

vantages previously referred to, permits easy and super-atmospheric pressure developed in said effective control of the various ingredients of the solid edibles through the respective injectors.

freezers.

HARRY B. ADAMS. 

